6th Sunday after Trinity Year B – Ezekiel 2:1-5; 2 Cor 12:2-10; Mark 6:1-13

For whenever I am weak, then I am strong.

As I have been reflecting on our readings today throughout the week, it is to these words in our passage from Corinthians, that I kept returning.

For whenever I am weak, then I am strong.

It is a thread that flows through all of the readings today.

As God speaks to the prophet Ezekiel, the word mortal, keeps being used, and it is only when Gods spirit enters Ezekiel, that he stands erect, ready to hear the message God has for him, that he is to go and speak to the rebellious nations, saying ‘Thus says the Lord.’

In that phrase ‘mortal’, there is an implied weakness, Ezekiel is only human, just like the rest of us, and yet God has a job for him to do, even in his mortal frailty.

Gods Spirit fills Ezekiel and he goes and does what he is asked to do.

For whenever I am weak, then I am made strong.

In our Gospel reading, even Jesus, who just a few verses earlier had stilled a storm, appears to be coming from a place of weakness, as the people of Nazareth reject him.

It was hard for the people of Nazareth to see Jesus for who he really was, he was after all, just a boy from Nazareth, and they all knew what people from more important places said, ‘Can anything good come out of Galilee?’ and Nazareth wasn’t even the best place in Galilee, it was just an obscure little town, one of about 200 such little towns in the area, inhabited by perhaps just 500 townsfolk. Many of these townsfolk would remember Jesus from his childhood, the older women would have had a hand in mothering him, the young men, had grown up with him, played together, studied the Torah together, grown to manhood together, the young women, mothers themselves now, would have noticed him from a distance as they wondered who might be chosen as their future husband.

And yet when Jesus gets up to speak and with such authority, they are astounded. Where is this all coming from, this kind of wisdom couldn’t come from a man they were acquainted with, had grown up alongside, it just wasn’t possible, not for a boy from Nazareth.

And so they closed their hearts and minds to his message, they took offence, they rejected him, and as it is recorded, ‘He could do no deed of power there, except that he laid hands on a few sick people and cured them.

And yet it is from this apparent place of weakness, that Jesus sends out the twelve. Remember where we are in Marks gospel, just six chapters in, the beginning of his ministry, the disciples still have so much to see, to hear, to learn and to experience. But whether they felt ready or not, out he sends them, in pairs, stripping them of all security, as he tells them to take no clothes, no food, no money, just a staff, wherever you are welcomed, stay, if not shake the dust from your feet.

And as they go, preaching a message of repentance, evil spirits are cast out, and the sick were healed.

In their weakness, through the power of God, they were strong.

Paul as he writes about power, made perfect in weakness, had tried working from a position of strength during his ‘Pharisee phase’, persecuting Christians, and knew only too well what resulted. Blinded on the road to Damascus and having to be guided by his friends to Ananias – who though he had heard many reports about Paul and all the harm he had done to the believers in Jerusalem, and knowing that Paul’s mission to Tarsus had the authority of the chief priests to arrest all who called on the Lords name, obeys the Lord, and goes to Straight street, places his hands on Paul and says, ‘Brother Saul, the Lord – Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here – has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.’

Paul had learned that the ship of the church may have a figurehead at the front; but power and steering comes from the other end, and is usually under water and unseen.

There are times when the church can seem to be obsessed by its own strength, safety and security. Any signs of weakness – falling numbers and rising running costs, can seem like a recipe for disaster.

At a deanery Chapter BBQ this week, Bishop Roger spoke briefly to the gathered clergy and lay ministers, and reflected on the performance of the England team at the Euros, remember this was before the match yesterday … but he was speaking about the disappointment he felt, and many others may echo, having watched the England team playing, making comment to the defensive nature of their game, they weren’t on the attack, the Bishop said. This may or may not have changed yesterday, but the point he went on to make, was that that is how the church can sometimes feel, so busy working in defence, its given up pushing forward. Holding ground, not making ground, despite the fact that for the last few years, the church nationwide has shown growth, not decline, more and more young people when asked, say they pray. And in a survey 1 in 2 adults said, if they were invited to a church service they would go. Which begs the question, who should we be inviting!

The bishops point was that we might feel we need to be defending our position, but we have the God of the impossible on our side, and our role isn’t to defend, it is to push on forward. We may feel weak, but power is made perfect in weakness.

Do we need to be reminded today of that ‘power made perfect in weakness,’ the strength that comes from relying on God, rather than on our own resources.

And step forward in faith, trusting God to embolden our vision and renew our strength.

Lets pray.

Heavenly Father, we thank you that you are the power that perfects our weakness. Help us to trust you and to rely on you, as we seek to serve you in this community, in Jesus name we pray. Amen